Economic Sentiment Improves, Led By Confidence In The Housing Market

Consumer confidence rose considerably over the past two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Following a fairly stable month of March, the ESI experienced a 1.9 point increase during this first reading of April, rising to 53.0— a new high for 2019.

All of the ESI’s five indicators increased during the reading period. Consumer confidence in making a major purchase reached its highest level in a year of 55.3, an increase of 3.2 points from the previous reading. This increase was matched by a rise in consumer confidence in the housing market, which also rose by 3.2 points from 47.8 to 50.9 points. Economic sentiment toward personal finances also jumped, moving up by 2.7 points to 65.1. Confidence in the labor market and the broader economy increased slightly, rising by just 0.3 points and 0.2 points, respectively.

The increasing confidence in making a major purchase comes amid early reports of a strong housing market. As The Wall Street Journalreported recently, this spring season is “shaping up to be the best in years” as mortgage rates fall, home inventory rises, and the rate of home price growth steadies.

The three-day rolling average was fairly volatile during the reading period. The rolling average began at 50.4 on March 20 before increasing to 54.0 on March 26. The moving average ultimately ended the reading slightly down at 52.8 on April 2.

The next release of the ESI will be on Tuesday, April 16, 2019.

About the Index

The HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (“ESI”) is a “living” index that measures U.S. adults’ expectations for the economy going forward, as well as their feelings about current conditions for major purchases. The primary goal of the Index is to accurately measure movements in overall national economic sentiment, and to provide a more sophisticated alternative to existing economic sentiment indices. Unlike other prominent indices that release consumer sentiment estimates infrequently, the HPS-CivicScience Index is updated in real time as responses are collected continuously every hour, every day. Large-scale cross-tabulation of survey responses and consumer attributes enable more granular analyses than are currently possible through prevailing measures.

Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) is an analytical public affairs consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. We integrate substantive analysis with communications and believe a deep understanding of business and economics leads to more effective public engagement and better outcomes for our clients.

CivicScience, Inc. provides the leading intelligent polling and real-time consumer insights platform, the InsightStore™. Its proprietary platform powers the world’s opinions and quickly gets that data to the decision makers who care. Every day, CivicScience polls ask millions of people questions related to thousands of topics, while its powerful data science and big data technology analyzes current consumer opinions, discovers trends as they start, and accurately predicts future behaviors and market outcomes. CivicScience polls run on hundreds of premier websites, in addition to its own public polling site at www.civicscience.com. CivicScience’s InsightStore™ is used by leading enterprises in marketing research, advertising, media, financial services, and political polling. For more information, visit CivicScience by clicking here and follow them on Twitter – @CivicScience.ts powerful data science and big data technology analyzes current consumer opinions, discovers trends as they start, and accurately predicts future behaviors and market outcomes. CivicScience polls run on hundreds of premier websites, in addition to its own public polling site at www.civicscience.com. CivicScience’s InsightStore™ is used by leading enterprises in marketing research, advertising, media, financial services, and political polling. For more information, visit CivicScience by clicking here and follow them on Twitter – @CivicScience.